Francesco Pappalardo

Francesco Pappalardo is Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Catania, Italy, where he leads the COMBINE research group. With over two decades of experience in computational modeling of biological systems—particularly the immune system—his research focuses on the development and application of mechanistic models to simulate disease progression and evaluate therapeutic strategies in silico. He has coordinated and contributed to numerous EU-funded projects on modeling, simulation, and in silico trials, with the overarching goal of advancing personalized medicine and supporting regulatory decision-making. Prof. Pappalardo also serves as an expert member of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) working groups on mechanistic and model-informed approaches, contributing to the evolution of regulatory frameworks for digital evidence in healthcare. He has an extensive publication record in high-impact journals spanning computational biomedicine, in silico medicine, and regulatory science.